Pakistan’s benchmark stock index, the KSE-100, declined by more than 300 points in early trading on Monday, slipping 334.45 points during intraday activity.
By 11:20am, the index had fallen 0.18 per cent from its previous close of 184,174.48 points to 183,840.03 points.
The dip follows a volatile period for the equities market. On Thursday last week, the index plunged by over 6,000 points after the State Bank opted to keep interest rates unchanged, before staging a modest recovery to end Friday’s session in positive territory.
Commenting on market sentiment, Shoaib Memon, executive vice president of equities at AKD Securities, said the central bank’s decision to maintain the policy rate at 10.5pc was likely to have a “short-term” negative impact, though he added that despite US-Iran geopolitical tensions, “positive sentiment” was expected to persist.
Among the biggest losers, Bank Makramah Limited led the decliners, dropping 10pc to Rs83.06. It was followed by Grays Leasing Limited, which slid 9.47pc to Rs20.37, and Ashfaq Textile Mills Limited, down 9.28pc to Rs19.85.
A technical note from brokerage house Arif Habib Limited stated that last week’s market structure points to a “renewed attempt to break above the recently established resistance zone of 184,570-185,625 points”.
The brokerage added that a move “above this band would open the door for a test of the next major resistance area at 186,125-186,700 points”. It further observed that “immediate support is seen between 183,700 and 182,200” and that “a clear breach below this range would reinforce bearish pressure and could lead to further declines”.
